Ep35 From 0 to 65 Doors with Mila Schwarz

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_03]: You don't have a buying problem, you have a creativity problem.

[00:00:03] [SPEAKER_03]: And so you can make the numbers work, you can figure out how to make the numbers work,

[00:00:08] [SPEAKER_03]: and then you can present that.

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_03]: Doesn't mean that you're going to get it, but you can try to figure out how to make it work.

[00:00:14] [SPEAKER_01]: From cornfields to high rises, office to industrial, houses to hotels and every other asset

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_01]: class in real estate, we cover the people, the projects, and the profit.

[00:00:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to The Investing in Iowa Show.

[00:00:27] [SPEAKER_01]: This show is for go-doers, action takers, and business owners.

[00:00:32] [SPEAKER_01]: It's for people like you who are sick of Uncle Sam taking a huge bite of your apple.

[00:00:37] [SPEAKER_01]: If you're looking to get ahead of what's taking place in Iowa, learn who is doing what

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_01]: and how you can get in on the action. You're in the right place.

[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Posted by Neil Timmins, an Iowa native who has been involved in over $300 million in real estate

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER_01]: right here in Iowa.

[00:00:54] [SPEAKER_01]: Recording in studio from West Des Moines, here's your host Neil Timmins.

[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_04]: I've got Mila Schwartz here on the show. Mila, welcome.

[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_03]: Thank you, Neil.

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm excited you're here, so I appreciate being here.

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_04]: Say for the audience to say, Kauria, where are you from? What do you do?

[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Recently we live in West Des Moines, the Valley Junction area.

[00:01:11] [SPEAKER_03]: I was born in Des Moines that grew up about an hour southeast of here.

[00:01:16] [SPEAKER_03]: My husband, I actually know where he was born.

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_03]: I think he was born in Boone, but he grew up in Boone.

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_03]: So we met in 2000, and then we started our real estate journey in 2006.

[00:01:29] [SPEAKER_04]: Your husband, Tony, that's the Wii, right?

[00:01:32] [SPEAKER_04]: Yes, that's the Wii.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_04]: The better half.

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_04]: So you started your real estate journey, what does that mean?

[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_04]: You started in 2000, so take me there and we'll walk it forward.

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_03]: We met in 2000 when we ended up getting married in 2006,

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_03]: and that's when we bought our first stuplex.

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_03]: And so that happened, and I ended up breaking my 401

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_03]: that I had at an old employer job, and that was my retirement.

[00:01:57] [SPEAKER_04]: Going buying the duplex, you're going to bank it all there for retirement?

[00:02:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_04]: What did you do with the duplex?

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_03]: We still own it today, but we actually did not know how to increase or get further

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_03]: ahead until about five or six years ago.

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay. What happened then?

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_03]: We went to a three-day seminar, and it really just helped to expand,

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_03]: and then also I was listening to Bigger Pockets at that time.

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_03]: And we learned how to do a refinance on all of our properties that we own personally,

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_03]: as well as the duplex, and we've just been growing since then.

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_04]: In between a handful of years ago, and then I guess back to 06 when you bought

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_04]: the duplex and a few years ago, that interim, did you buy additional properties?

[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_04]: Yes.

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_04]: What was taking place there?

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_03]: So we have 65 doors now.

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Some of them, we have that like I said, original duplex, and then we bought another duplex,

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER_03]: and then we rented out the house that we were living in here,

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_03]: and so that's part of our portfolio as well.

[00:03:01] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay. So 65 doors today, what does that primarily consist of?

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_04]: Single families or into the multis?

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_03]: We have some single families.

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_03]: We have some multifamily, and we also have a couple duplexes,

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_03]: but the multifamily is a 13 unit and a 41 unit.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay. When did you buy the 13 and the 41?

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_03]: The 13 we purchased December 28th, 2022.

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_03]: And then the 41 unit we purchased April of 2023.

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah. So a lot of growth in the last handful of years.

[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_04]: And that's largely because you've really soaked up from an education standpoint.

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes. We try to go to seminars.

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_03]: I try to listen to all different kinds of podcasts,

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_03]: watch some YouTube videos of different people talking within and masterminds as well.

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_04]: And you're actively participating meetups here in town?

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_04]: Connect with other investors.

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_04]: You manage everything yourself?

[00:04:02] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:04:03] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay. So talk to me about the management piece because it's two different jobs.

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_04]: Owning is one thing, right?

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_04]: Yes.

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_04]: And being the asset manager meaning you're going to manage the manager,

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_04]: and then actually being the manager are two different things.

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_04]: What's the biggest challenge about the management component?

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Time. And I have no delay in renting the properties.

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_03]: It's time to get them turned around and get them fixed and completed.

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_03]: And I have wait lists for most of my properties.

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_04]: Interesting. What management platform are you using?

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_03]: We use RentTech Direct.

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_03]: And I've used RentReady in the past.

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_03]: Didn't care for it, but that was my own personal preference.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_03]: I would like to move to Appfolio, but we have some tenants who bought the 41 unit

[00:04:54] [SPEAKER_03]: because it was under hotel motel licensing.

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_03]: They were paying bi-weekly or weekly and Appfolio only goes monthly.

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_04]: Monthly.

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_04]: Yes.

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_04]: Can change that. That's interesting.

[00:05:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. I wish we could because Appfolio is a little bit more user-friendly.

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_04]: A little more bust as well.

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_04]: Looking back our last handful of years going from a duplex to now 65 doors,

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_04]: what's been the biggest challenge?

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Finding the deals.

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_03]: Finding them and making sure that they are buying criteria.

[00:05:26] [SPEAKER_03]: As you and I have talked, everyone's buying criteria is different

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_03]: and what they want it to cash flow as and all of that sort of thing is different.

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_03]: What works for me may not work for someone else and what works for them doesn't work for me.

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah. Isn't that funny?

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_04]: Because so often people think, oh, we're competing against people for the same thing

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_04]: and maybe but the product may be the same, but how one views that product may be completely

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_04]: different.

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_03]: Correct.

[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_04]: Correct.

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_03]: As we've talked about in our Friday morning meetups at Smokey Row,

[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_03]: you got to make sure it cash flows, but everyone's idea of a cash flowing property is different.

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Correct.

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Some people it's $100, some people it's $400.

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_03]: It just depends.

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_04]: Just depends.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_04]: Yes.

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_04]: That and you've got a lot of money moving regularly.

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_04]: 1031 has a different motivation in many cases, right?

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_04]: Yes.

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_04]: And cash flows typically at the top of the list, how do we not pay taxes?

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes, that would be one thing.

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_03]: But we've not sold anything big enough to actually do a 1031 yet, but that doesn't mean

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_03]: that won't happen next year.

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_04]: Nice.

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_04]: Just be in the lookout for something to go for sale.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_04]: Yes.

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_04]: Take me back to management.

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_04]: You said you typically have a wait list.

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_04]: What do you attribute that to?

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_04]: Because I know all bunch of people are going to be eternally jealous of a wait list as

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_04]: they go out and try to find people to-

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Just lay it all out there for them and go with it that way.

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_03]: And as long as they feel like you're respecting them, even though they may not have the best

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_03]: rental history, they're going to want to rent with you.

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_04]: It's incredible when you look at the property management companies reviews on Google.

[00:07:11] [SPEAKER_04]: It's almost nobody's are positive, right?

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_04]: And it's always from people who don't pay and you got to kick out or take action one way or

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_04]: another.

[00:07:20] [SPEAKER_04]: But it's always interesting when you stumble across a very high review on a lot of it just has to

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_04]: do with the basics.

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes, it does.

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_03]: When we bought our duplex and Clive several years ago, one of the first things that we went in

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_03]: and did was put in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Most of them were inoperable, not working that were there.

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_03]: And two months later, the carbon monoxide detector went off and the water heater

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_03]: malfunctioned.

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_04]: Wow.

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_03]: So we pretty much saved a family's life.

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_04]: Correct.

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_03]: And so she's very appreciative of that.

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_04]: Based on what?

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_04]: A $20, $30 investment.

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:07:58] [SPEAKER_03]: And back then they were 20 years ago.

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Now they're a little bit more.

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Correct.

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, you're right about that.

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_04]: That's incredible.

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_03]: I recently managed 100 unit property and I'm getting phone calls from those tenants wanting

[00:08:13] [SPEAKER_03]: to know if I have any other place to go because they don't like where they're at now.

[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_04]: New management style there.

[00:08:20] [SPEAKER_04]: It's incredible when people see these places and I suspect typically smaller, lower into the rent

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_04]: scales, that fair to say.

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_04]: And they value the people and the relationships probably more than they value the particular

[00:08:35] [SPEAKER_04]: box in which they live in it.

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_03]: I will have someone that will need something bigger but they're willing to settle for

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_03]: something smaller because I have it.

[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_04]: How have you been the acquisitions you've made over the years?

[00:08:47] [SPEAKER_04]: How have you purchased those?

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_04]: Are you direct to a seller?

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_04]: Are you off market through a broker?

[00:08:51] [SPEAKER_04]: Typically on market.

[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_04]: What does that look like?

[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_03]: On the multi-family ones at 13 and 41, they were on the market.

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Both of those was a longer process to actually acquire because we looked at the 41 unit,

[00:09:08] [SPEAKER_03]: we looked at it and I couldn't make any of the numbers work or anything like that.

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Someone else put it under contract so we knew what their numbers were

[00:09:18] [SPEAKER_03]: and what the seller was willing to do and then they backed out of it.

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_03]: So we just went in with that same numbers and it worked.

[00:09:28] [SPEAKER_03]: So yeah, it was amazing that it just all worked out.

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_04]: How has the interest rates moving to really over the course of the last two years?

[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_04]: How has that impacted you and your underwriting and your ability to buy today?

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_03]: It's not really impacted us at all because of the fact that if a cash flows, a cash flows.

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_03]: If it meets the criteria and it's what we're looking for, the numbers work and so the

[00:09:55] [SPEAKER_03]: interest rate doesn't matter.

[00:09:56] [SPEAKER_04]: You're typically buying some value add properties?

[00:09:59] [SPEAKER_04]: All right.

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER_04]: So what I hear you saying reading between lines is when buying value add that cap rate as

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_04]: it's presented today isn't a particularly big deal.

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_04]: It's not what you're basing purchasing decision on because you're going through

[00:10:11] [SPEAKER_04]: your underwriting and you're looking at a rate of return over, I suspect, a period of time.

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_04]: So some defined whole period.

[00:10:18] [SPEAKER_04]: And since you're adding value those rents are going up ideally the expenses are

[00:10:23] [SPEAKER_04]: decreasing at the same time.

[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Correct.

[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:10:26] [SPEAKER_04]: And if you make the deal work fantastic and the interest rate just is what it is

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_04]: to get that outcome.

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_04]: Correct.

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay.

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[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_02]: We do the heavy lifting.

[00:10:47] [SPEAKER_02]: Our team finds the deals, manages the properties and handles all the day to day operations.

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[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_02]: without opening a tenant email or responding to a maintenance call.

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[00:11:14] [SPEAKER_04]: On the single family side, do you guys do any Airbnb, any short-term stuff?

[00:11:20] [SPEAKER_03]: We have one Airbnb but Tony is selling it.

[00:11:23] [SPEAKER_03]: It has a pool and it just went under contract.

[00:11:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh yeah, cool.

[00:11:26] [SPEAKER_03]: And I ended up buying that as an off market property.

[00:11:29] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_03]: And then we just ended up keeping it for ourselves instead of what they call

[00:11:34] [SPEAKER_03]: wholesaling it out.

[00:11:36] [SPEAKER_03]: It was just through a connection I had and that's a lot of the single families that we do buy are

[00:11:42] [SPEAKER_03]: through connections or people that we know that are saying,

[00:11:47] [SPEAKER_03]: hey, can you help this person out?

[00:11:49] [SPEAKER_03]: And so that's how I get those leads.

[00:11:51] [SPEAKER_04]: Pros and cons of an Airbnb with a pool.

[00:11:54] [SPEAKER_03]: There's really not any cons of the Airbnb with a pool except for possibly parties.

[00:12:01] [SPEAKER_03]: But as long as you bet your tenants or guests prior to that, then you're going to be fine.

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_03]: With Airbnb, that's not my forte.

[00:12:10] [SPEAKER_03]: That's Tony's.

[00:12:12] [SPEAKER_03]: And so I wouldn't do an Airbnb under our portfolio just because of the fact of the turnover.

[00:12:19] [SPEAKER_04]: Sure.

[00:12:19] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm not wanting that turnover that quickly.

[00:12:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Now I do mid-term rentals, so traveling nurses but most of my nurses either their contract

[00:12:29] [SPEAKER_03]: gets canceled mid-term which is probably only like maybe 10%, but the other 90%,

[00:12:36] [SPEAKER_03]: they almost stay the full year until they can't renew any longer.

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_04]: So the implication of that is you've rented it to them on a mid-term basis,

[00:12:46] [SPEAKER_04]: which means they have a higher than average rent if they were going to rent for a year.

[00:12:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:12:51] [SPEAKER_04]: And the majority of them end up staying here.

[00:12:53] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:12:56] [SPEAKER_03]: That's quite a hack.

[00:12:58] [SPEAKER_04]: All right, I love that.

[00:12:59] [SPEAKER_04]: See how I learned something new today.

[00:13:01] [SPEAKER_03]: And I actually have one gentleman he left middle of summer because his contract was up

[00:13:06] [SPEAKER_03]: and he's coming back.

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_03]: And so I'm going to place him back in the same building it was in.

[00:13:12] [SPEAKER_03]: It won't be the same unit but it'll be at the same building.

[00:13:14] [SPEAKER_04]: Curious, what happens so the 10% of the time where their contract ends early, what happens?

[00:13:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Usually it's because a nurse and other nurses wherever they're working don't get along.

[00:13:25] [SPEAKER_03]: And so the traveler is not going to do this.

[00:13:28] [SPEAKER_03]: And so they just get a different assignment somewhere else.

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_04]: What are the financial implications to you?

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_03]: I usually let them out at their lease.

[00:13:35] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm not going to hold someone to that when they're traveling.

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_03]: That was the other thing that I tell all of my travelers that I'm not going to rent your

[00:13:43] [SPEAKER_03]: room out until I know positively you're leaving because of the fact that I don't

[00:13:48] [SPEAKER_03]: want you to renew at the last minute and not have a place to go.

[00:13:51] [SPEAKER_03]: And they're very appreciative of that.

[00:13:53] [SPEAKER_04]: All right. What I heard you say is rent your room out.

[00:13:55] [SPEAKER_04]: Explain or is that something significant?

[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_04]: Meaning are you renting these places by the rooms?

[00:13:59] [SPEAKER_03]: I did at one property but when I used the room apartment or location,

[00:14:05] [SPEAKER_03]: I did have a duplex that was two bedrooms, two bathrooms.

[00:14:09] [SPEAKER_03]: And so I made one of the smaller bedrooms into an office.

[00:14:12] [SPEAKER_03]: And because they each had a bathroom, I rented out one room by the room and the other.

[00:14:18] [SPEAKER_03]: And they just had the shared living space and laundry and kitchen.

[00:14:21] [SPEAKER_04]: What did that do to dollars?

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_04]: Meaning what would a normal annual, if somebody was going to rent it for a year,

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_04]: what is that on a monthly basis?

[00:14:28] [SPEAKER_04]: And if they do it midterm, what is that on a monthly basis?

[00:14:31] [SPEAKER_03]: We converted that back because I had a family member that needed a place to rent.

[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_03]: So they're paying $1,300.

[00:14:39] [SPEAKER_03]: Probably can get $1,400 out of it.

[00:14:41] [SPEAKER_03]: But with the midterm, I was getting $1,000 out of one room and $900 out of the other.

[00:14:47] [SPEAKER_04]: Do you offer on the midterm cleaning services?

[00:14:50] [SPEAKER_04]: Is there anything special there on the midterm basis or is it largely just their flexibility

[00:14:57] [SPEAKER_04]: with a shorter term lease?

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Just basic, their flexibility.

[00:15:02] [SPEAKER_03]: Now I do have electricians that have said, hey, do you know any cleaning people?

[00:15:07] [SPEAKER_03]: So I have a lady that cleans on my turnovers and so I give her,

[00:15:12] [SPEAKER_03]: they exchange information, I'm completely out of it.

[00:15:15] [SPEAKER_03]: So she gets work from them, they're appreciative.

[00:15:17] [SPEAKER_03]: I know them, the place is kept clean too.

[00:15:20] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:15:21] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:15:21] [SPEAKER_04]: Absolutely.

[00:15:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:15:23] [SPEAKER_04]: How are you using financing?

[00:15:25] [SPEAKER_04]: The property you bought, we just go to a bank and typically 20% to 30% downers or something

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_04]: more creative on your acquisition of these properties?

[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_03]: We've done more creative acquisitions and then refinanced and put money back out.

[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_03]: We've done private money.

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_03]: We have done some fix and flips and so we have borrowed hard money for that

[00:15:46] [SPEAKER_03]: but we've also borrowed private money to finish them up.

[00:15:50] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:15:50] [SPEAKER_04]: Anywhere you can get it, right?

[00:15:52] [SPEAKER_04]: Where it can make sense on the deal.

[00:15:54] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:15:54] [SPEAKER_03]: You just have to account for if you're paying your private money guy 10%, 12%.

[00:15:59] [SPEAKER_03]: You just have to look at that as a second mortgage on the property and then add that in.

[00:16:04] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_04]: What's your team structure look like today?

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_04]: You've got 65 doors.

[00:16:09] [SPEAKER_04]: Is it just you and Tony?

[00:16:10] [SPEAKER_03]: We have two people that work with us as handymen.

[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_03]: They're 1099.

[00:16:15] [SPEAKER_03]: One has a full-time job so he works usually Wednesday nights and Saturdays.

[00:16:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Last night we were down at my parents' house finishing a bathroom.

[00:16:23] [SPEAKER_03]: That's a little bit beyond the scope of work that we would normally do but needed to get that done.

[00:16:28] [SPEAKER_03]: And then we have another gentleman who does flipping on the side and also has rentals

[00:16:35] [SPEAKER_03]: and so in his spare time when he's trying to find a house,

[00:16:38] [SPEAKER_03]: he's working for us to generate income for himself.

[00:16:40] [SPEAKER_04]: Oh, okay, cool.

[00:16:41] [SPEAKER_00]: If you're a house flipper, execute the birth strategy or do double closings and are in need of money.

[00:16:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Little Guy loans is your go-to lender here in the Des Moines area.

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Time is money.

[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Loan approvals in 24 hours.

[00:16:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Closings in five days.

[00:16:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Little Guy loans was founded by Neil Timmons, an investor just like you.

[00:17:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Since he has been in over 10,000 homes in Des Moines, there's never an appraisal.

[00:17:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Houses, multifamily and commercial property loans up to one million.

[00:17:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Check out www.littleguylones.com.

[00:17:15] [SPEAKER_04]: Going back to the beginning, at what point did you quit your job?

[00:17:20] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm wondering where along this path did that take place?

[00:17:23] [SPEAKER_03]: When we moved to San Diego, I pretty much quit being full-time.

[00:17:27] [SPEAKER_04]: What year was that?

[00:17:28] Oh gosh.

[00:17:29] [SPEAKER_04]: You knew I was gonna ask.

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_03]: I know you're going to ask me this.

[00:17:33] [SPEAKER_04]: Approximately.

[00:17:33] [SPEAKER_03]: I would say eight years ago.

[00:17:35] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay.

[00:17:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Because we were out there for three years.

[00:17:38] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh no, it's probably been, gosh, it's probably been nine years now that we moved out there.

[00:17:43] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, about 2015 then.

[00:17:44] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:17:45] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay.

[00:17:46] [SPEAKER_03]: Now don't go on me on that.

[00:17:48] [SPEAKER_04]: What took you out there?

[00:17:50] [SPEAKER_03]: Tony's job.

[00:17:51] [SPEAKER_03]: He found a job with a bank out there because he was a chief information security officer.

[00:17:56] [SPEAKER_03]: And so we went out for his job.

[00:17:58] [SPEAKER_04]: All right.

[00:17:59] [SPEAKER_04]: So about 2015, that's when you left the full-time world.

[00:18:03] [SPEAKER_04]: Yes.

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_04]: And did you do some part-time things along with the real estate or was it all real estate?

[00:18:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, I did.

[00:18:10] [SPEAKER_03]: I was in the insurance industry.

[00:18:12] [SPEAKER_03]: So I did work, gosh, probably like two, three hours a week for an agent that I was working for before.

[00:18:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Just basically if his two people he hired after I left had questions or needed extra help or

[00:18:28] [SPEAKER_03]: support or anything like that, then I would do that.

[00:18:31] [SPEAKER_03]: And I still do some insurance right now.

[00:18:34] [SPEAKER_04]: Is Tony working full-time now or is he all in real estate?

[00:18:37] [SPEAKER_03]: He is pretty much all in real estate.

[00:18:39] [SPEAKER_03]: He's working maybe 10 hours a month for a contract job with a guy out of Illinois for security.

[00:18:48] [SPEAKER_04]: What are you most excited about in the next year?

[00:18:51] [SPEAKER_03]: How things are going to change because we're kind of up on an election year.

[00:18:55] [SPEAKER_03]: So good things and bad things could happen.

[00:18:57] [SPEAKER_03]: Sure.

[00:18:58] [SPEAKER_03]: Just also looking forward to my future and trying to pivot a little bit away from

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_03]: real estate but still keep my hands in a moving towards syndication.

[00:19:09] [SPEAKER_03]: So also growing and then being on more podcasts.

[00:19:14] [SPEAKER_03]: I am going to be writing a book.

[00:19:16] [SPEAKER_03]: I tried to do it a while ago and didn't have the time to do it.

[00:19:20] [SPEAKER_03]: But now that I'm starting to implement some people that I'm hiring to help take on

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_03]: some of my duties, I can get back to that.

[00:19:28] [SPEAKER_04]: Good for you.

[00:19:28] [SPEAKER_04]: What's the book about?

[00:19:30] [SPEAKER_03]: It is basically the art of adulting 10 essential life skills.

[00:19:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Basically things I wish I would have known prior to five or six years ago

[00:19:40] [SPEAKER_03]: that would have catapulted us totally from 06 that could have taken us where we are

[00:19:47] [SPEAKER_03]: now way back then.

[00:19:50] [SPEAKER_04]: That'd be incredible.

[00:19:52] [SPEAKER_04]: Tons of things to learn along the way and it never stops.

[00:19:55] [SPEAKER_03]: It never stops.

[00:19:57] [SPEAKER_03]: I learned something new every single week.

[00:19:59] [SPEAKER_04]: For you, why Iowa?

[00:20:01] [SPEAKER_04]: What keeps you here?

[00:20:02] [SPEAKER_04]: Why did you decide to be here?

[00:20:03] [SPEAKER_04]: Why did you decide to invest here?

[00:20:05] [SPEAKER_04]: You spent time in San Diego.

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_04]: You could do what you do anywhere but why Iowa?

[00:20:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Basically because of family.

[00:20:11] [SPEAKER_03]: We moved back to Iowa because of Tony's mom.

[00:20:15] [SPEAKER_03]: She was a little on the decline and so was his dad.

[00:20:19] [SPEAKER_03]: And so we moved back to Iowa since we've been back.

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_03]: They both have passed.

[00:20:24] [SPEAKER_03]: And now my mom and dad are here still.

[00:20:28] [SPEAKER_03]: And so I am a big part of their caretaking as well.

[00:20:35] [SPEAKER_04]: You ready for the final three questions?

[00:20:37] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know.

[00:20:39] [SPEAKER_03]: But like Jeopardy! round.

[00:20:41] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:20:42] [SPEAKER_04]: The first one's a law ball because it's right in line with your book.

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER_04]: If you had one piece of advice for your 20-year-old self, what would it be?

[00:20:48] [SPEAKER_04]: Networking and budgeting.

[00:20:49] [SPEAKER_04]: All right.

[00:20:50] [SPEAKER_04]: So what benefits have you drawn out from networking?

[00:20:53] [SPEAKER_04]: Why do you continue to do it today?

[00:20:55] [SPEAKER_03]: The benefits I get out of networking is for my own personal satisfaction of helping somebody.

[00:21:01] [SPEAKER_03]: And also things come back around to you.

[00:21:05] [SPEAKER_03]: So it doesn't matter if you meet someone once or twice or you meet them every week and talk.

[00:21:12] [SPEAKER_03]: It's always a good idea to give them knowledge and then it will always come back to you.

[00:21:18] [SPEAKER_04]: Fair to say when you say networking, what you mean more specifically is networking

[00:21:24] [SPEAKER_04]: inside the investor real estate community?

[00:21:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Not necessarily.

[00:21:27] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, okay.

[00:21:28] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, because you never know when you're going to run across somebody that isn't necessarily in the

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER_03]: real estate community but maybe they want to get in, maybe they have money, our private

[00:21:38] [SPEAKER_03]: money lender, he's not really in the investing world but he loans.

[00:21:44] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:21:44] [SPEAKER_04]: And on the expense on the budget side, share a little about that.

[00:21:48] [SPEAKER_03]: When I graduated from high school many years ago,

[00:21:53] [SPEAKER_03]: they never taught us anything about money at all and budget and what needs to go where

[00:21:59] [SPEAKER_03]: and with apartments you have to be able to have reserves in case something happens

[00:22:06] [SPEAKER_03]: and like escrow for property taxes and all of that sort of thing.

[00:22:11] [SPEAKER_03]: And that's something that no one ever really teaches.

[00:22:13] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, you're ill of course coming out of high school to do a bunch of anything.

[00:22:17] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:22:18] [SPEAKER_04]: Two bucks that change your life.

[00:22:20] [SPEAKER_03]: There's so many because I've been listening to so many books lately, The Pumpkin Plan,

[00:22:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Buy Back Your Time.

[00:22:27] [SPEAKER_03]: I also liked Psycho-Cybernetics and that was a good book.

[00:22:30] [SPEAKER_03]: I actually like it better than Think and Grow Rich even though it's along the same

[00:22:35] [SPEAKER_03]: signs, same lines of everything but it's just more low to the point.

[00:22:39] [SPEAKER_04]: One has a substantially better title.

[00:22:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:22:45] [SPEAKER_03]: I have read Rich Dad or Dad.

[00:22:47] [SPEAKER_03]: I've read lots of other books as well.

[00:22:50] [SPEAKER_04]: All right.

[00:22:51] [SPEAKER_04]: If you were cast away on an island for a year, you can only get three pieces of data about

[00:22:56] [SPEAKER_04]: your business each and every month.

[00:22:57] [SPEAKER_04]: What three things must you know?

[00:23:00] [SPEAKER_03]: The information from rent tech.

[00:23:02] [SPEAKER_03]: Does that count?

[00:23:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, sure.

[00:23:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[00:23:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Give it to me.

[00:23:05] [SPEAKER_03]: Who's paid rent?

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER_03]: Who hasn't paid rent?

[00:23:07] [SPEAKER_03]: What work orders are coming in?

[00:23:09] [SPEAKER_03]: What vacancies are out there?

[00:23:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Who's moving in?

[00:23:12] [SPEAKER_03]: So that would be one of them.

[00:23:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:23:14] [SPEAKER_03]: Three pieces of information.

[00:23:16] [SPEAKER_03]: What the market's doing?

[00:23:18] [SPEAKER_03]: It doesn't have to be specific markets, just what to be aware of in the entire United States

[00:23:25] [SPEAKER_03]: versus even locally here in Iowa.

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_03]: Just have the kind of a hands-on of what's going on.

[00:23:30] [SPEAKER_03]: So probably a podcast like this one for here in Iowa.

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Let's see a third thing that I would want.

[00:23:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Probably just an open line of communication to whoever's handling everything.

[00:23:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Spend one hour a day getting caught up of what's going on.

[00:23:45] [SPEAKER_04]: There you go.

[00:23:46] [SPEAKER_04]: You want a pulse of it all.

[00:23:47] [SPEAKER_04]: Yes.

[00:23:48] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:23:48] [SPEAKER_04]: Maya, I've asked lots of questions.

[00:23:51] [SPEAKER_04]: What's one question that I did not ask that I should have asked?

[00:23:54] [SPEAKER_03]: I guess one of the things, like when we bought one of our duplexes,

[00:23:57] [SPEAKER_03]: we had refinanced one of our other properties and so we had the cash

[00:24:01] [SPEAKER_03]: to be able to buy it outright cash and then we did the refinance later.

[00:24:07] [SPEAKER_03]: There's ways to do everything out there.

[00:24:09] [SPEAKER_03]: You just have to be creative in trying to figure out that way.

[00:24:12] [SPEAKER_03]: I've heard from one of the other bigger people out of Arizona say,

[00:24:19] [SPEAKER_03]: you don't have a buying problem.

[00:24:21] [SPEAKER_03]: You have a creativity problem.

[00:24:23] [SPEAKER_03]: And so you can make the numbers work.

[00:24:26] [SPEAKER_03]: You can figure out how to make the numbers work and then you can present that.

[00:24:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Doesn't mean that you're going to get it,

[00:24:32] [SPEAKER_03]: but you can try to figure out how to make it work.

[00:24:36] [SPEAKER_04]: Sure.

[00:24:36] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:24:36] [SPEAKER_04]: The old saying, you name the price, I named the terms.

[00:24:39] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:24:39] [SPEAKER_04]: So any number.

[00:24:41] [SPEAKER_04]: Any number.

[00:24:42] [SPEAKER_04]: It's a function of what the terms look like, how creative one can get.

[00:24:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:24:46] [SPEAKER_04]: So what I hear you saying is it goes past just using your dollars.

[00:24:50] [SPEAKER_04]: You got to ultimate think different land in order to achieve a different outcome.

[00:24:53] [SPEAKER_03]: You do.

[00:24:54] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:24:54] [SPEAKER_04]: For people who want to find you, they want to follow you,

[00:24:57] [SPEAKER_04]: they want to connect with you, where can they go?

[00:24:59] [SPEAKER_04]: What should they do?

[00:25:00] [SPEAKER_03]: If they text Myla, which is Amazon Mary, ILA, 233777,

[00:25:07] [SPEAKER_03]: then we can stay in touch that way.

[00:25:10] [SPEAKER_04]: Perfect.

[00:25:10] [SPEAKER_04]: It's below in the show notes for everybody.

[00:25:13] [SPEAKER_04]: Myla, I appreciate being here.

[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_04]: Thank you.

[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_04]: Thank you.

[00:25:15] [SPEAKER_04]: Thanks for listening.

[00:25:16] [SPEAKER_04]: If you're enjoying the show, may I ask a favor of you?

[00:25:19] [SPEAKER_04]: Naturally, subscribe so you never miss an episode.

[00:25:22] [SPEAKER_04]: But would you rate and leave an honest written review on Apple Podcasts?

[00:25:26] [SPEAKER_04]: Does a lot for us here at the show and I appreciate reading your thoughts.

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_04]: Great guests make for a great show.

[00:25:32] [SPEAKER_04]: If you know of another island who would be a great guest or you yourself have

[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_04]: interest in being a guest, well get on our radar.

[00:25:39] [SPEAKER_04]: Visit Investing in Iowa to fill out an application or recommend a guest.

[00:25:45] [SPEAKER_04]: And if you want to connect with me one-on-one, go legacyimpactinvestors.com,

[00:25:51] [SPEAKER_04]: click on the invest with us button in the top right corner.

[00:25:54] [SPEAKER_04]: And there you can pick a time for the two of us to get on the calendar and connect.

[00:25:58] [SPEAKER_04]: Until next time, keep investing in Iowa.